1 - The Black Vault

OPERATION ASSURED RESPONSE TO THE NEW MILLENNIUM
HC-130P) Combat Shadows, and three MH-53J
Pave Low III helicopters to Taegu AB and flew
missions in support of the combined unconventional
warfare task force. The group established a
combined Air Force Special Operations Component
(CAFSOC) and provided the command and
control structure to manage the large special op -
erations contingent. During the exercise 747 hours
were flown during 223 tasked missions, and an
additional 1,000 hours were flown during unilateral
training not specifically tasked by the exercise.
Colonel Folkerts served as the CAFSOC commander
and employed additional forces from the
1st SOW and US Army aviation during the course
of the exercise. Foal Eagle 97 continued to provide
the best training of any exercise for the group. 54
By 6 November Foal Eagle had come to a successful
close, and all forces had redeployed to their
home stations. The 1st SOS later deployed a Combat
Talon to Guam during the last half of the
month to support the SEALs stationed there. On
17 November the crew was again requested to fly
a SAR mission out of Guam. The US Coast Guard,
Marianas Section, requested the crew search for a
missing 18-foot skiff with four persons on board.
The vessel (named Chico) had been missing for
three days. The crew launched early the next
morning with the daunting task of finding a small
boat in a 2,500-square-mile search area. The crew
was commanded by Captain Roller, with additional
maintenance personnel on board to help
scan for possible survivors. It was almost an impossible
task, but within one hour of commencing
the search, the boat was spotted. The crew radioed
back to the Coast Guard the location of the Chico
and was informed that the location could not be
reached until the following day. The aircrew devised
a means to drop supplies to the four survivors,
with the two loadmasters using flotation devices,
duct tape, and garbage bags to create
packages containing bottled water and food. The
crew also dropped a survival radio and then
headed for Truk Islands to refuel. The Coast Guard
was able to coordinate with a Micronesian ship
operating in the area to pick up the Chico crew.
The Combat Talon returned from Truk Islands to
assist the Micronesian vessel in finding the small
craft. The aircraft orbited overhead and guided the
ship to the survivors; all four personnel were rescued
and returned home safely. 55 The crew that
flew the mission was Captain Roller, Captain Hastert,
Captain Ziener, Captain Scudder, Tech Sergeant
Dampier, Tech Sergeant Demchenko, and
Tech Sergeant Paul. The dramatic rescue was the
last major action for the 1st SOS during 1997.
An 8th SOS Crew Helps Locate
Downed Pilot in Utah
An 8th SOS MC-130E and crew deployed to Hill
AFB, Utah, in early February as part of the squadron’s
mountain training program. On 4 February
1997, while the aircraft was flying a mountain
terrain-following mission, Hill AFB called and requested
its assistance in locating a downed F-16
crew. The F-16D was assigned to the 419th
Fighter Wing, which was also located at Hill AFB.
Proceeding to the aircraft’s last known position,
the Combat Talon maneuvered through the rugged
mountains utilizing its terrain-following radar
system and was able to locate the crash site on the
side of a steep mountain range. The crew recorded
the position of the wreckage with its sophisticated
navigation system and relayed the coordinates to a
US Army HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter that was
assisting in the search. As the HH-60 neared the
wreckage site, the Combat Talon crew dropped
flares over the area to help guide the helicopter.
The Blackhawk crew was able to locate the downed
crew members and extract them from the snowcovered
terrain. The downed airmen were transported
back to Hill AFB for medical checkups and
later released from the base hospital. For both the
Combat Talon crew and the Blackhawk crew, it
was a job well don e. 56
Throughout 1997 the 8th SOS continued to fill
both contingency and exercise taskings. From
April to July the unit once again deployed to
Southwest Asia in support of Operation Southern
Watch . Aircrew, intelligence, and support personnel
from the 8th SOS, the 711th SOS, and maintenance
personnel from the 16th Logistics Group
deployed to Prince Sultan AB, Al Kharj, Saudi
Arabia. Two crews and support personnel from
the 8th SOS and one crew from the 711th SOS
flew two MC-130E Combat Talon Is on a 26.4-
hour nonstop flight, arriving in Saudi Arabia on
the evening of 11 April. The Combat Talon crews
assumed alert duty, beginning on 15 April, after a
brief transition period with the HC-130 crews
from the 71st Rescue Squadron out of Patrick
AFB, Florida. On 17 July, following their 90-day
tour at Prince Sultan AB, members of the 8th
SOS returned to Hurlburt Field, thus completing
the squadron’s second deployment to Southwest
Asia in support of Operation Southern Watch
since the fall of 1996. 57
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